Georgia State’s 2012 football schedule includes a couple of firsts: its first trip to Rocky Top and its first eight games in the Colonial Athletic Association.
The schedule, released Thursday, likely won’t be easy: Aside from the Panthers going 3-8 last season, which brings its own issues in all areas, four of their conference opponents made it to the FCS playoffs last season, and the team doesn’t have a bye week.
The Panthers will open at the Georgia Dome, either Aug. 30 (a Thursday) or Aug. 31, depending upon the Falcons’ schedule.
“Our schedule is a great step forward for us to go and compete in this league,” coach Bill Curry said. “We’ve got to make a great leap forward with this team, to be competitive. That’s what we intend to do. We started working the day after the season, and we are continuing to work so that we will be competitive in the CAA.”
Tough start
The Panthers will begin to see if they have improved their offense, defense and special teams, each of which struggled in 2011, by hosting South Carolina State, a traditional power in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. Of course, Curry and his staff must keep the team focused on S.C. State and not on the next week’s game against Tennessee at Neyland Stadium, which seats 102,455. It likely will be the most fans ever to see the Panthers play, surpassing the 101,821 that watched them lose at Alabama in the 2010 season finale. Georgia State will receive $500,000 to play there.
CAA begins
The Panthers will begin their first season in the CAA by hosting Richmond on Sept. 22. The Spiders went 0-8 in the conference last season. The Panthers will then travel to William and Mary, a traditional power in the CAA that went 5-6 last season. Georgia State will host New Hampshire, the first of the four conferences foes that made it to the postseason. The Panthers will then travel to Rhode Island, which went 2-6 in the conference last season, before hosting Villanova for homecoming. The Wildcats went 1-7 in the conference last season.
Closing gauntlet
The Panthers’ final three games are at James Madison, at home against Old Dominion for the second consecutive season and a pack-a-coat game Nov. 10 at Maine. That trio went 27-12 last season and each participated in the playoffs. Only Maine advanced past the second round, losing to Georgia Southern in the quarterfinals. Of course, the Panthers lost 40-17 to the Monarchs last season at the Georgia Dome.
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